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Brno Observatory and Planetarium

Close to the centre of Brno there is a hill that for seven centuries has been called Kraví hora(Cow Hill). And you could see cows grang there until the mid 20th century. Then it started changing into a nice city park with the Brno Observatory and Planetarium growing up on the hilltop. In 1954 it was just a small observatory. Then it got a small planetarium in 1959, and finally the big building was built in 1991.

And it has been so till now. If you get lucky with nice weather, you can meet a lot of people enjoying the sun in the park around. Not far from us, there is an indoor and outdoor swimming pool and a baseball field.

In 2005 the Brno Observatory and Planetarium started preparing a transformation into a multi-visual centre. It didn’t include only the building but also the programme orientation, personnel and the entire style of work. The complete reconstruction of the building was finished in 2011 and the original planetarium was replaced by a digital projection system in 2013.

What technology can you look forward to in our planetarium, now? A fulldome projection InSpace System 2D 4K Hybrid by RSA Cosmos with a star ball GOTO Chronos II; and Front Pictures Fulldome server with their interactive software SpaceTime360, Medusa360 and Presenter360; a projection screen Spitz NanoSeam with a diameter of 16.8 m and 189 seats.

You can also find a small Carl Zeiss Jena ZKP-1 projection planetarium in the building. It is installed in a dome with a diameter of 8.5 m and has continuously been in operation since 1959. There is and exhibition hall in the basement area of the building, three observation stations fitted with various telescopes and an open air Science Trail Exposition.

In 2015 we had 160,000 visitors, of which roughly 40 percent were school excursions and 60 percent the public. The Brno Observatory and Planetarium is owned by the city of Brno, which contributes to its operation (about 50 percent of the annual budget). Our small production studio prepares one or two full-length fulldome shows a year. In this production process, we aim at effectiveness and originality of our shows and collaborate with the graphic artists, script writers, directors, actors and actresses and musicians from the city theatres. Have a look at our web page www.brnoplanetarium.com for more details..